Trade with Greece
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would fuel production, the money is tied in bad
loan provisions, the future appears to be bleak for
everyone. “We do not have too many alternatives”
reply the bankers. And meaningfully suggest that
“it is very difficult to find bank executives that will
put their signature on any agreement, since the
threat of possible criminal sanctions looms like
the sword of Damocles above their head.”
Meanwhile, the messages sent out by the market
are more than ominous in regard to available liq-
uidity. Despite the fact that, according to official
data, the relevant ratio has been slightly improv-
ing, the financial managers of, mostly, large enter-
prises claim that they are “going through the
worst phase ever” in regard to this issue. Cash is
a declining species. For the time being, the com-
panies that manage to stay afloat are those that
had read the signs and had transferred cash in
overseas accounts prior to the imposition of capi-
tal controls in the summer of 2015. These com-
panies use their foreign bank accounts to transfer
money and pay salaries and other inelastic current
liabilities (e.g. settlement of debts to suppliers and
third parties, purchases of raw materials etc.).
However, all the other companies that were not
foresighted enough, or did not have the neces-
sary capital, to follow suit, are currently facing a
dire situation, with very few exceptions that sim-
